A Different Tomorrow
by AZ1087653
Summary: The Doctor and Donna witness an infamous day in Earth history and discuss the effects; what needs to happen for us to grow. Rated T for content.


I was re-watching "Fat Man and Little Boy", the reenactment of the Manhattan Project, and this little story popped into my head because of having a memory of the Doctor telling Sarah Jane during the "Pyramids of Mars" serial that he wasn't human when she made a comment like "It's almost as if you aren't human." I don't recall the line completely and am too lazy to go and find the episode in my DVD collection.

I always wondered how the Doctor would view something that so many consider a horrible occurrence in Earth History. This is my take on the subject.

If I have offended anyone, I am sorry. I do not mean to. I also have no ownership of the Doctor Who franchise; I just like borrowing them for my own amusement. This would take place sometime after "Planet of the Ood".

* * *

A Different Tomorrow

August 9th, 1945

Donna Noble stood in the doorway to the TARDIS, watching as the sky went from clear to a sickening gray as the mushroom shaped cloud spewed forth from the terrain below. The once calm city, now a disaster zone, just seconds after the infamous bomb, Fat Man, had been dropped.

She suppressed a gag as she thought about all the thousands of people who had just blinked out of existence and all those who would succumb in the future years due to the aftereffects.

Slowly, a tear leaked out of her left eye and made a trail down her cheek, then dropped to her shoulder; to be absorbed by the fabric of her shirt. She didn't wipe it away; just let it fall, silently.

"You going to be okay?" She heard the Doctor ask from behind. He had stood back and let her get the whole scene without his comforting presence.

"I'm not sure I've seen anything quite so beautiful and horrible all at the same time." She said softly, not taking her eyes away from the cloud that was still expanding at an alarming rate.

"Days like these need to be remembered, not for their destruction, but for the turning points they created in man-kind's history. Without days like these, you don't want to know what would have become of your race." The Doctor deadpanned.

The Doctor pulled Donna away from the door and shut it; closing off her view of the destruction. Donna walked over toward a chair and sat down, a pained look in her eyes.

"Why do I find something so beautiful, in the form of something so devastating?"

"Probably because I would have found it beautiful. You've been hanging around me too long." The Doctor said, though keeping his serious tone.

"This isn't funny Doctor!' Donna snapped. "All those people died because those other evil people created a weapon of mass destruction."

The Doctor walked over to his companion and held her gaze, letting her know he was there.

"Listen to me Donna Noble. The men who dropped those bombs weren't evil, and neither were the ones who dropped the bomb on Pearl Harbor; they were just men and like all men, they had faults." The Doctor said in a serious tone.

"How can you think they aren't evil when they so willingly kill innocent people?" Donna asked, rather shocked at this bit of information.

"I'm not human. We Time Lords have just as many faults as man does; probably more." The Doctor said, still holding Donna's gaze. "Yes, that cloud was an absolutely beautiful and brilliant sight, but we can't change the past. Look at what those two man made objects accomplished."

Donna turned away from the Doctor and walked over toward the door again. She put her hand on the door and put her ear to the door; almost like she was listening for the sounds from the explosion again.

"What did it accomplish Doctor?" Donna asked.

"It accomplished unity." The Doctor said, a small smile creeping across his face. "If it'll work and for how long it'll last I cannot tell you, but you humans are learning."

The Doctor walked toward Donna and put a hand on her shoulder, feeling her ragged breathing as she cried inwardly for the loss the Earth had just been subject to; even though this day had happened well before her own birth.

"Remember Donna, there is no good or evil, unless you let there be. There are opposites and differences of opinion. In this Universe, opposites are necessary or existence will disappear. We can't change the past, but you can change your perception and let that help you create a better future."

Donna turned and faced the Doctor, a grim expression on her face. "I don't understand you at times Doctor. I don't see how I can."

The Doctor put an arm around his companion and led her away from the door, toward the control console; toward a different tomorrow.

The Doctor maneuvered the controls of the TARDIS and took Donna away from the airspace above Nagasaki. "It's probably because you aren't ready, but I can guarantee, when you are, there will be no stopping you."


End file.
